Multi-cursor multi-user mobile interaction with a large shared display

When using a mobile device to control a cursor on a large shared display, the interaction must be carefully planned to match the environment and purpose of the systems use. We describe a ‘democratic jukebox’ system that revealed five recommendations that should be considered when designing this type of interaction relating to providing feedback to the user; how to represent users in a multi-cursor based system; where people tend to look and their expectation of how to move their cursor; the orientation of screens and the social context; and, the use of simulated users to give the real users a sense that they are engaging with a greater audience

Mediation, expansion and immediacy: how online communities revolutionize information access in the tourism sector

Enabled by Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), online tourism communities are in the process of revolutionizing the way information is shared and distributed in the travel industry. Interpreting online tourism communities as a particular kind of information system, previous research in this area has argued that tourism communities may enhance the quality of information available to tourists, thus improving their subsequent travel experience. Quality was defined in terms of timeliness, completeness, structure and personalization. In this paper, we review this notion of quality and argue that particularly valuable information coming from tourism communities often meets stronger quality characteristics related to information relevance and impact, namely mediation (information helps establish an own, independent perspective on destinations that is not primarily mediated by guide books and travel-related media), expansion (information provided is highly relevant even though it not directly related to the original inquiry to the community) and immediacy (information is not caught in the time-space dilemma of guide books and similarly sedate publications). The three quality characteristics were derived from an empirical investigation of information shared in a wellestablished online tourism community focusing on traveling in Australia. The paper concludes with a discussion of how mobile information systems, such as laptops and personal digital assistants, are changing the way travelers interact with online communities

The Role of Information Systems in Information-Level SecurityManagement

Proliferation of computers and networks in the age of the Internet has not only enabled novel services, such as email, the web, and electronic commerce, but also new ways to affect companies, their businesses, and their reputations. A look at the relevant literature suggests that so-called information-level threats are not yet sufficiently addressed. In this paper, we provide a summary of the current situation and outline the role of information systems in helping organizations cope with information-level online activities

Unleashing Usability Superpowers to Make the World a Better Place

ICT systems that suffer from minor, and sometimes major, usability problems are an all- too-common experience. This is hard to understand given that there is a readily available body of knowledge that provides solid, field-tested advice on how to design and develop usable and useful interactive digital systems in domains ranging from leisure to business to health. People usually cannot avoid using the bad interfaces they need to use to do the tasks at hand but perhaps we can encourage them to document and share what makes them bad interfaces? Over time this could change how usability is perceived across organisations and influence how new ICT systems are acquired. After all, bad usability can not only affect staff well- being and the bottom line but can also involve legal liabilities

Mobile remote presence robots for medical consultation and social connectedness

We demonstrate that Mobile Remote Presence systems (MRP) aka telepresence robots can be successfully used in certain types of medical consultation such as consultation from a distance with residents of nursing homes. We argue that MRP afforded media richness also allows for supporting social connectedness during medically recommended isolation regimes similar to the ones that are implemented in residential care homes around the world during the SARS-CoVID- 2 pandemic. Specifically, our research found that MRP are perceived as a more natural medium compared to typical telephones or videoconferencing via computers or tablets. MRP allow conversations to become more dynamic and engaging since remote participants are able to adjust their remote position and perspective during a conversation. Participants in our experiments reported they would be willing to engage even in difficult or emotional topics when using MRP however there are also certain types of situations that would still ask for face-to-face conversations

We are Here and We are Many: Using a Telepresence Robot for Shared Exploration and Learning (and Fun)

Mobile remote presence bots (MRP) have emerged as a potential way of addressing the 'tyranny of distance' when having to attend meetings at far away locations. In this contribution we report on how we used an MRP to share with two cohorts of postgraduate students at a regional university the formal ‘conferencing’ and the informal ‘mingling’ that takes place at quality academic conferences and that many would consider essential for effective networking and knowledge sharing. Simultaneously, students were able to experience and explore what it meant to be ‘different’ in a room full of people interacting in ‘regular’ ways, observing the conference attendees reacting to the MRP aka 'ipad on a stick' in ways from genuine interest to forced indifference